Gezicht op een vlakte bij Ladysmith waar in de Tweede Boerenoorlog is gevochten 1901

This landscape photograph was taken by Underwood & Underwood, and shows a field near Ladysmith. There’s something desolate about this image, isn't there? The land lays open, flat, and exposed. It’s a picture of a place where something has happened, something violent - the site of the Second Boer War. I can imagine the photographer standing there, trying to capture something of the atmosphere of the place. I wonder, what was it like to be there? What do you think the photographer was trying to show? You can almost feel the weight of history in the flatness of the image and emptiness. It feels like they're saying: this happened here, and now we're looking at it. It is quite understated, somber even. And yet the view is beautiful. It would be interesting to re-photograph this scene. I wonder if the quietness would still be there? It probably would, history has a way of leaving traces, right? It would be interesting to paint it, too.